Powell Bill funds used for local street repair

Wednesday

Oct 16, 2013 at 4:48 PM

Four miles of streets in Lexington will receive repair work thanks to the city's receipt of almost $590,000 from the state Powell Bill Fund.

BY SHARON MYERSThe Dispatch

Four miles of streets in Lexington will receive repair work thanks to the city's receipt of almost $590,000 from the state Powell Bill Fund.Phil Surratt, Lexington City street superintendent, said 4.10 miles of street repairs are slated for this year, including streets adjacent to Western Boulevard, Tanglewood Drive, Burler Street, Broadview Avenue, Buena Vista Drive, Royal Avenue and Peacock Avenue. Much of the work has already been completed. He says the street repairs are prioritized through an independent survey of the streets, which are then ranked on a best to worst scale. Terra Greene, Lexington assistant city manager, said the city received $588,744 from the Powell Bill Fund in 2013. It received $577,472 in 2012.State Street Aid, also known at the Powell Bill Fund, is money collected through a tax on gasoline for street repairs. This year, the North Carolina Department of Transportation distributed more than $145.6 million in State Street Aid to 507 municipalities across the state. The initial allocation of $72.8 million was sent out Sept. 30, with the rest to be paid by Jan. 1, 2014. That is an increase of about $2.8 million over last year's allocation. Rick Comer, director of the City of Lexington Public Services, said that the department has very specific uses for these funds and must submit a detailed report each year to the state. Each municipality determines how to spend its money, as long as it is on qualified projects."There are several restrictions on how these funds can be used," Comer said. "Anything street related, such as storm drains, traffic control or the street department fund, is OK. But if there is a water leak or gas main break that damages the road, it is considered utility related, and we can't use Powell Bill funds."The tax for gasoline in North Carolina is 37.6 cents per gallon. The State of North Carolina uses a portion of these taxes to fund the Powell Bill Fund. This fund is then distributed to municipalities across the state to be used to build or maintain local streets. Comer said the majority of these funds are used to pay employee salaries, snow and ice removal and for paving materials."Without these funds we would be hard pressed to have an active street department," he said. "It would be very difficult. A fairly big chunk of our materials budget comes from the Powell Bill funds."The amount each municipality receives is based on a formula set by the North Carolina General Assembly. The formula requires 75 percent of the funds to be awarded based on population while the remaining 25 percent is based on the number of street miles each municipality maintains. The Lexington population in 2013 is 18,628, and the city has 127 miles of streets including bridges.In other cases, the NCDOT performs work for municipalities in situations when the work cannot be performed by the city and has the cost of the repair deducted from the Powell Bill funds. During the last bridge inspection, some minor repairs were recommended for the Hickory Street Bridge in Lexington. Due to the location of the needed repairs, which involved concrete repair under the bridge deck, and given the bridge spans Winston-Salem Southbound Railway, special equipment was necessary to provide access. The NCDOT bridge maintenance unit has equipment that allows repairs to be made from on top of the bridge. A trailer-mounted catwalk is swung down to gain access to the underside of the bridge and allows crews to safely work above the railroad tracks. The work itself is not difficult, just access to the repair area is the issue. NCDOT has estimated the repair cost approximately $2,250. Upon completion of the repairs, NCDOT will deduct the cost from the city Powell Bill Funds."It is much more cost efficient for the NCDOT to do these repairs since they have the needed equipment," Comer said. "Otherwise we would have to get engineering reports, rent equipment and etc. You can see how expensive that could become."The fund is named for Junius K. Powell, a former state senator and mayor of Whiteville, whose name led a list of legislators sponsoring a 1951 bill to help the state's cities with urban road problems. Since the program began in 1951, more than $3.7 billion has been allocated to municipalities. This year, that broke down to $109.2 million on population and $36.4 million based on street miles. Sharon Myers can be reached at 249-3981, ext, 228 or at sharon.myers@the-dispatch.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.